THE PAMPAS INDIANS. 



113 



under the circumstances in which they are placed. 

 In the mines I have seen them usins; tools which 

 our miners declared they had not strength to work 

 with, and carrying burdens which no man in 

 England could support ; and I appeal to those tra- 

 vellers who have been carried over the snow on 

 their backs, whether they were able to have re- 

 turned the compliment, and if not, what can be 

 more grotesque than the figure of a civilized man 

 riding upon the shoulders of a fellow- creature 

 whose physical strength he has ventured to despise? 



The Indians of whom I heard the most were 

 those who inhabit the vast unknown plains of the 

 Pampas, and who are all horsemen, or rather pass 

 their lives on horseback. The life they lead is sin- 

 gularly interesting. In spite of the climate, which 

 is burning hot in summer, and freezing in winter, 

 these brave men, who have never yet been subdued, 

 are entirely naked, and have not even a covering 

 for their head. 



They live together in tribes, each of which is 

 governed by a Cacique, but they have no fixed 

 place of residence. Where the pasture is good 

 there are they to be found, until it is consumed by 



I 



